


allnighters

by chlobeax



Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons), Trollhunters - Daniel Kraus & Guillermo del Toro
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Sporadic Updates, and my music, claire has 2 cats, claire is study mom, go listen, i'm basically projecting my weird school shenanigans onto jim lake, its like community but with more angst, jim is a basic bitch, jump aboard the angst train, on spotify, poor baby james lake jr, taylor swift at 5am, this is a playlist
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-26
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2019-10-17 05:22:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17554163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chlobeax/pseuds/chlobeax
Summary: When studying is too hard, you're mentor tells you get a study buddy, one that can really help out. Jim Lake, Jr stumble upon Claire Nunez and her best friend Aja Tarron.Who said falling in love and passing classes would be hard.





	1. chapter one

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ceruleanstorm](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceruleanstorm/gifts).



> I started watching Trollhunters again with my sisters. And I forgot a lot of things. Now with 3 Below out and with Wizards on the way, i'm over the wall with writing some stuff for these children. I can't wait for my sons and daughters to come back to me. All I have to do it wait.

When Jim Lake, Jr. got out of high school, he thought he would finally be free. Getting away from all the bullying, the fake people, and odd teachers. His best friend, Toby Domzalski always used tell him about how if he just waited, he would finally feel like himself. If only Toby knew that Jim usually never felt like himself, like ever, and his mother can vouch for that.

It was a summer day in Arcadia Oaks, and Jim was packing some stuff to bring to his dorm for the first time. Listening to Reputation at almost full blast, he was throwing stuff into a box labeled “shit from my childhood”. He was meeting Toby by the canals. Over the years, he’s been using a 1955 Vespa, built with a family friend, who was one of Jim’s professors, Blinkous Galadrigal. Jim had always wondered how he got the name. But, recently, that Vespa engine broke down, so at the end of his Senior year, Jim was using his mom’s car. He was determined to get a new Vespa for college.

Right as “King of my Heart” stopped, Barbara Lake walked into his room. She looked normal for a summer day in this town. Her red hair in the same style, small bags under her eyes from late nights at the clinic shone through her square glasses. She wore a white off shoulder shirt and some leggings. Jim scrambled to click the pause button on his Spotify. “H-hey mom, how are you doing?” Jim awkwardly smiled at his mother. He threw his phone on his bed as a text alert from Toby startled him. He jumped to grabbed it.

“Honey, are you okay? You seem on edge. Listening to Taylor Swift at a high volume at 10 am is totally fine,” Barbara gave her 18 year old son a smirk. She got a glare in return. Barbara laughed.

“Thanks, I really needed to be reminded, anyway, are you sure you are going to be okay while I’m at college, I can always come back and live here?” Jim’s concern for his mother had been the same since he was five and James Lake, Sr. left them. He always wanted her to feel safe around the house.

“I’ll be fine, I have Walt to help around the house,” Barbara smiled. “He will like a second Jim for me.”

“Thanks for that unneeded visual mom.” Jim cringed. His high school teacher, Walt Strickler, got with his mom in his Sophomore year. She had been getting more and more closer to Strickler. Jim had become his favorite. Everyone envied Jim for being Strickler's favorite. In Arcadia Oaks High, Strickler was a teacher no one liked to have. He gave out impossible to ace tests, and somehow Jim Lake, Jr. passed every single test since Sophomore year, and the students of Arcadia Oaks High wanted all his secrets, but all Jim normally said was, “Guys, I have no secrets, I guess he just likes me.”

“Everyone seems to like you, Jimmy Jam.” Mary Wang always replied.

Having Strickler over almost every night was something Jim wouldn’t miss. He would always stay in his room talking to Toby about some weird new show he was watching. He would run down the stairs when he heard the doors closed and cook something and rant to himself about Strickler. Strickler said he would miss as he “lives out his final days a kid”.

“Honey, I will always need you, but my boy is going off to college, I’m not going to stop you, this is what you and I both want,” Barbara pulled her son into hug. Jim had gotten taller since he was 16, he was about 5’9 at this point. He was also slightly taller than his mother. “I’m gonna miss you like hell, nothing will change that.”

“I’ll miss you too Mom, more than anyone else,” Jim suddenly pulled away from his mother’s grasp. “Just please let Strickler bring the food, I don’t want you burning the house down while I’m gone.”

“I promise, we won’t burn the house down.”

Jim’s phone chimed. Toby. He looked at the text.

 _WaRhAmMeR_ _10:34 am:_

JIM! Wherre are you??? Hurry Up! I got news!!!

Jim looked at his mother. “Go, I’ll be fine, take the car, I’ll even pick it up later.” She smiled.

“I love you, Mom!” He gave her one last hug.

“I love you, too, Kiddo.” She took in the hug. Her son was leaving. But, it was in a good way this time, he would miss her, not like James, and she would miss him more than anything. “Come visit soon!”

 

Jim took in the scenery of Arcadia, he wasn’t really _leaving_ the town, he was just going to a college really far away from his house and the main city.

His mother’s car had AUX function, so whenever he got the car alone, he would listen to various Taylor Swift, mostly listening to the Fearless album a lot. But, whenever he had to take Toby somewhere, he would control the music and put on Post Malone or some rapper Jim didn’t care for. That was no stranger today.

Once Jim was at the canals Toby was there. He was in a red jacket and a yellow button up shirt. He was jumping up and down and waving at Jim. “Jimbo!” He kept saying, really loud. The cars passing by could hear. He pulled over by the drop down. He got out and ran over to his best friend.

‘What’s up man?” Jim said, out of breath. After years of climbing ropes in Coach Lawrence’s gym class, Jim still couldn’t be athletic without losing his breath.

  
“You’ll never guess who just passed by me!” Toby said, his smile grew wider. Toby had braces since eighth grade, and over the summer before senior year, he finally got them off. He teeth looked straight.

“I’m getting the feeling I’m supposed to know, but I really don’t, man,” Jim cocked hi head. Jim didn’t care about all of people at Arcadia Oaks High, especially now. He didn’t understand why people made a big deal out of one person.

“Claire Nunez! One of the coolest girls in school!” Toby exclaimed.

Claire Maria Nunez was one person Jim had heard about all over school. She had the aesthetic of a witch from a myth, people had fallen head over heels for her. Jim had never seen her, so he didn’t understand why people liked her so much. He was still surprised that Toby saw her. Claire’s social status was much higher than theirs, they were nobodies and she was a somebody, Jim would never had suspected she would even notice them.

  
“Damn, man, you really saw her?” Jim folded his arms and smirked.

“Yes, she was riding a motorcycle, Jimbo, and fucking motorcycle, man!” Toby was freaking out. “Wearing a leather jacket, have you ever seen anyone that cool, other than me, of course?” Toby smirked.

Toby always thought of himself as cooler than Jim, and honestly, Jim agreed.

“Wow, did she say anything to you?” Jim asked.

“I’ll tell you on the way!” Toby picked up a box labeled “Antiques” , Toby’s nana probably needed a while ago, and it was the only one he could find. Toby slammed his box into the trunk next to Jim’s. “Now, first give me the AUX cord,”

“No, I want to listen to some Tove Styrke, not Lil’ Pump,” Jim started the engine and snatched the cord away from Toby. He plugged it into his phone and turned on Mistakes by Tove Styrke and started humming along to the song. He could hear Toby grumbling to himself about Jim’s music taste.  
“Anyway, Claire did say something to me,” Toby said, matter-of-factly. “She asked me who was I waiting for and I said I was waiting for you, she seemed to know you Jimbo.”

  
That’s when Jim almost crashed the car.

“JIM!”

“She what?”

“Dude, you literally almost killed us, and that’s what you’re worried about?”

“Tobes, it’s not every day someone at the top of our social hierarchy says something about us,” Jim started moving the car again. “How the hell does she know who I am?”

“I guess she had heard about us from Steve?”

Steve Palchuk was, in a word Jim could say about him, a dick. He had hated Jim since his first test Strickler gave him. Steve failed with a 32% and Jim passed, like always, with an 82%. Steve had resulted to bullying him. He also had a huge crush on Claire’s best friend Aja Tarron. He always hung around the two, Jim had heard from Darci Scott.

“Well, did she say anything else, was Aja with her?” Jim asked. He was genuinely curious.

“No she wasn’t, Claire was alone. But she did say she was going to the same college as us, and that’s where she was heading.” Toby said.

“Oh shit, man,” Jim sighed.

“How is this in anyway bad?” Toby asked.

“If Claire and Aja are there, Steve is, too.”

“Well, fuck,”

“Yep, we’re both doomed.”


	2. chapter two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> JIM IS A BASIC BITCH

The University of Arcadia. A place for kids who  _ wanted _ an education, and didn’t want to become a trashy Instagram model. Jim looked at them and seriously didn’t understand. Once at a sleepover at Toby’s he shoved his phone in his face, showing a picture of a Instagram model, Loren Gray and screaming, “HOW THE HECK DO PEOPLE DO THIS?”

The place was big, had a few major buildings, the main building, the sorority houses, and the dorms. Toby and Jim were staying pretty close the main building. Most of Jim’s classes were in the main building. For majoring in History, he thought it would have it’s own building. He was glad he was close, the last thing Jim needed was to be late to anything. Even with everything he had, his major was going to be hard. Jim had to keep up the scholarship he had gotten. Apparently, he got a scholarship from both his grades and his father. So he had to keep up with 13 hours in his Major of History. He also decided to take on a minor of Anthropology, who was taught by a family friend, Blinky. 

Finding a parking spot on this campus was harder than Jim initially thought. With Toby screaming random things at him, made it even harder. And his mom had to  _ find  _ the car when she came to pick up. So Jim was already panicking. He finally found a spot by a big sign with the words  **GO WIZARDS!** He grabbed his phone from on top the glove department, still playing Love Story by Taylor Swift, and took a photo of the sign and sent it to his mom. “You ready to do this, Tobes?” He looked over to his red haired best friend. 

“Oh hell yeah, away from PE, I’m beyond ready!” Toby pumped his fist up, hitting the top of the car. 

“And you’re sure you want to minor in Anthro with me?” Jim cocked an eyebrow.

“Eh, I didn’t have anything else to take, so why not take something with my best friend?” Toby smiled. 

“Thanks, Tobes.” 

Jim grabbed his suitcase decorated with stickers varying from Gun Robot, certain sayings, and The Strain Tril. He grabbed the box with his stuff and waited on the curb for Toby. Looking around, there were a lot of kids here. Kids he had seen before, kids he had gone to high school with, and that was a  _ little _ overwhelming. He could hear Toby struggling. “Do you need help?”

“No! I don’t, I can handle this,” He said in some super hero voice. Toby was 18 and was still a giant nerd, he  _ was _ majoring in Computer Engineering. His favorite movies were Hellboy and all the Gun Robot Movies. “Stand back, foolish human!”

Jim laughed. Toby had gone through some hard stuff in his life, with his parents death, his weight, and living with his nana. Jim couldn’t understand why he was always so happy, but Toby always told him that he was always happy and optimistic because his parents are watching over him.at all times. He believes that’s why he became friends with Jim, his parents. 

He got his suitcase out,  _ littered _ with stickers of all of his favorite things. “Alright, I am awesome-sauce, let’s go.” He started walking ahead before Jim ran to catch up with him. 

 

After 30 minutes trying to maneuver through panicked freshman, Jim and Toby found themselves in front of dorm 1110. The dorm was relatively the size of Jim's living room at the most. The walls were painted white, with one window across from the door. Two beds were placed on the sides of the walls, with two desks placed at the end of each. The bathroom was right next to the door, across from a closet. The floors were dark hardwood. Jim thought of it as cozy. He claimed the bed on the right. The first thing both of them unpacked was their laptops. Jim’s Macbook did not have as many stickers as Toby’s did. He had a few stickers relating to history and The Strain. Toby’s computer was also littered with stickers, the most visible one being a sticker of his favorite saying “Awesome-Sauce” , on the bottom. Jim still didn’t know where Toby got all of them. He just thought Toby had some secret sticker supplier. He wouldn’t be surprised if he did. Jim logged on and did some research on what was going on in his classes, mostly his European History class. He looked at the class teachers. One name stood out, Walter Strickler. 

 

Strickler. He was teaching his Euro class. “You’re kidding?” He exclaimed out loud.

 

“What’s up dude?” Toby looked over his shoulder seeing Jim hanging his head back.

 

“Strickler is my Euro teacher.” He groaned. “Just when I thought I was getting away from him. He comes back into my life as my history teacher,”

 

Toby laughed aloud and instantly  covered his mouth, afraid of offending Jim.

 

“Fuck you, man.” Jim looked over an rolled his eyes. 

 

The last thing Jim wanted was to be Strickler’s favorite again. Jim would have to go through the world of having to listen to him upcap that stupid pen of his for 2 hours every day. And what about Arcadia Oaks High, who teaches there. He decided not to think about it and looked at his Shakespeare class with someone named Ms. Janeth. The theatre teacher at his high school, Ms. Cole, was one of Jim’s favorite teachers, it was right after Senor Uhl’s spanish class of doom, so he always looked forward to it. Maybe Ms. Janeth would be like her. That class started at 10 am tomorrow, so Jim had that to look forward to. 

 

About two hours later, Jim and Toby decided to head out somewhere for dinner. They went to a Wendy’s close to campus. They did  _ walk _ because Barbara came and got the car. Toby ordered 2 cheeseburgers and a Dr. Pepper, while Jim just ordered a Grilled Wrap and a small frostie. After finding out his mom’s boyfriend was his teacher, Jim deserved a nice dinner. Toby talked about some high school memories. It was nice and quiet at the Wendy’s. Maybe college wouldn’t be so bad.

 

The next morning Jim really learned the truth about college. Toby woke up earlier than Jim and found out there was a Starbucks right my the Dorms. So knowing Toby, he went to get Jim a venti Iced Caramel Macchiato, since Jim is that basic and getting himself a Chai Tea. He busted into the room holding both drinks. It was 6am and Jim looked like he had just gotten out of the shower. He was working on his laptop. Looking over from his work he saw his friend. “Hey, thanks man,” Jim said after Toby handed him his cold drink.

 

“Eh, it wasn’t a problem, but you’re buying tomorrow,” He pointed at him. Toby’s engineering class started at the same time as Jim’s Euro class, which he was already dreading. He called his mom last night and complained about how he was apparently stalking him. Toby chimed in a few times saying stuff like Strickler was going to kill them. Barbara said they were going to be fine and that Strickler was looking forward to having Jim as a student. Jim packed away his computer and headed for the door. Jim’s class was about 30 minutes from the dorm, in the main building. So he wanted to get there early, to possibly yell at Strickler.

 

Once in the main building he saw Eli Pepperjack, someone he was friends with in highschool. Eli got bullied a lot, so Jim usually stood up for him. He thought he had Computer Science with Toby at this time, maybe was getting a head start to classes. Jim ran up to him.

 

“Hey Eli!” Jim said. Eli looked over surprised that James Lake, Jr. was actually talking to him.  Eli always looked up to Jim, metaphorically and actually, he was tiny for his age. Jim was like his only friend in the school. 

 

“Oh, hey Jim,” He tried to sound like he wasn’t currently losing his cool. “Are you heading to your classes early, as well?”

 

“Yeah, I need too, I can’t into the habit of being late, like I was in high school.” Jim took a sip of his drink before returning to the conversation. 

 

“That’s a good idea, what are you majoring in?” Eli smiled up at Jim.

 

“History, I love the whole idea of it,” Jim smiled. “What about you , Tobes told me you were in the same major classes as him?” 

 

“Oh we are, i’m on my way, so I gotta go, see you around Jim!” The small one said and ran off to find his class.

 

“Alright Strickler, where are you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank my sister who is helping with a lot of this.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Mr. Lake, nice of you to join us, please take a seat next to..."

Jim had just gotten out of Strickler’s class. He was literally about to jump the dude. Class wasn’t even that hard, all Strickler really had to do was go over the syllabus for the semester, yet Jim couldn’t bear the sound of Strickler uncapping and capping his pen, over and over. It was like his own personal hell. He’d have to go through 2 hours of this every morning for the rest of his college life. He made a promise to his mom, that he wouldn’t stop complaining about him, no matter if he was out the house or not, Jim was not happy.

He was on his way to his second class, Shakespeare. He only took the class because he needed the hours and he thought it might be easy and fun. Ms. Cole, put on one Shakespeare play his junior year, Hamlet. Jim didn’t remember much, but he thought it was a good show, so he wanted to learn more about Shakespeare.

He really didn’t check the time, because when he got there, he was about 4 minutes late. Great, the last thing Jim wanted was to be late.

“Jim Lake, Jr.,” Ms. Janeth called his name, forcing him to look at her. She was a normal looking teacher. She had purple, rectangular glasses, black hair, pulled into 2 massive space buns, and a turtle neck, black sweater paired with a green pencil skirt. “Nice of you to join us, please take a seat next to,” She scanned the room. “Ms. Claire Nunez.”

_FUCK.FUCK.ARE YOU KIDDING. YOU JUST HAD TO BE LATE TO CLASS, LAKE!_

Jim made his way down to the front of the classroom , slowly, by Claire. She was wearing a leather jacket that fit her like a glove, she had a white streak in the front of her hair, and was wearing black jeans, with a Papa Skull shirt, with a red flannel wrapped around her waist. She also had a lot of hair clips in her hair. She smiled up at him.

“Hi Jim,” It was the first time he had ever heard Claire Nunez’s voice. And it. Was. Beautiful. It was like hearing a bird sing when you actually wanted it to. It was like angel had answered Jim’s plea for help. She’s fucking gorgeous, what the hell, this is going a fucking mess. “A-are you okay?” She asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Everything Ms. Janeth was saying had suddenly meant nothing to Jim. Claire Nunez was going to be sitting next to him for a while. This was messing with him. “O-oh right, I’m awesome-sauce.”

She gave him a confused look.

_JAMES! Are you crazy town banana pants? What the hell is wrong with you? AWESOME SAUCE!?_

He gave Claire an awkward smile. She smiled back and went back to paying attention to Ms. Janeth going over the syllabus. This year was going to be a mess.  
When Jim got to his final class of the day, he was exhausted. He wasn’t late to this one. He actually ran to Anthro. Claire wass still running through his mind, so his day was going just great. He got there with just enough time to get seat with Toby.

 

 

“Tobes,” He got is friends attention. “I have better news to tell you later.”

Blinky was standing at the front of the room preparing for the day, I guess he was nervous.

“Yeah man, I really want the tea, and I got news for you, too.” Toby whispered, like he was afraid someone was going to listen to their conversation.

“Never say that again.” Jim glared. In the corner of Jim’s eye he saw something red sit next to him. He looked over to see Aja Tarron. Claire’s best friend, and a music major. He instantly started to wonder if she was minoring in Anthro as well. Her platinum blonde hair was pulled into a bun, her flannel covering a gray, cropped Queen shirt. She paired this outfit with black Adidas yoga pants.

Aja was on her phone, from what Jim could see, she was texting someone in her contacts by the name of shadowbitch. Claire?

She looked over at him and he instantly looked away from her. “This class is going to be lively, don’t you think?” Her accent was thick, but nice.

Jim nodded, not really understanding the phrase, ‘lively’, but he was the one who uses the word ‘crispy’ on daily basis. His attention went back to the front of the room where a a very muscly kid walked in.

_TA?_

Blinky got the attention of the class. Which actually took a minute. “Hello my young scholars, I hope you are ready for a stellar year?” He smiled. He moved so gracefully. Like someone dancing in a ballroom.

Jim sat through the whole class thinking about Claire. Her whole witch, bad ass biker, style was beautiful, he loved the aesthetic. According to Toby, Jim was basic, with the one sweatshirt he’d been wearing for 3 years. He always considered himself as a person who didn’t fit with an aesthetic. Toby always replied with a snarky remark about tumblr.

Aja snapped him out his thoughts. “Hey,” She poked him, several times. “You might want to pay attention, just because you were Strickler’s favorite doesn’t mean that you can blank out.”

_Rude._

But he understood what she was saying. This was Jim’s minor and he wanted to pass and get a good job. Something where he could help people.

“Ah, Mr. Lake, can you please repeat what I just said was due by the end of the month.” Mr. Blinky asked Jim.

FUCK!

Aja poked him again. “What you’re looking to do in the future, on a PowerPoint,” She whispered.

“What we’re looking to do in the future,” Jim smiled.

“And what are we to do it on?” Mr. Blinky gave him a look of skepticism.

“PowerPoint.”

“Seems you were listening after all.” He goes back to talking to the class. Jim turned to Aja.

“Thanks, you were really listening?” He whispered.

“Yep, I need this so I can help, when you aren’t paying attention, but you do owe me.”

“Whatever you need.”


	4. Chapter 4

October 25, 2018

 

It’s been 2 months since Jim started college. Was he enjoying it? Not so much. Claire has been his stage partner for Shakespeare, and it has been making him even more nervous than when he was about to give a Spanish presentation in high school.

 

Claire had been so confident about being partners, today in fact she surprised him with the fact that they were friends. 

 

Jim had just been released out of class, when Ms. Janeth pulled him aside. She was wearing a cardigan, a reasonable outfit, since it was getting colder in her classroom. Jim’s blue sweatshirt wasn’t enough to keep him warm, so he is now wearing a baggy white sweatshirt. Claire has resulted to wearing a purple cardigan.

 

“Jim, can we talk?” Ms. Janeth asked.

He was guessing he didn’t really have a choice so all he said was, “Yeah, what’s up?” 

 

“Jim this really pains me to say, but you’re failing.”

 

Jim’s entire world was starting to fall apart. He couldn’t be failing. Was it being with Claire that messed him up, what was it. Everything went into slow motion for him, that when he finally snapped out of his trance, Ms. Janeth was on her final sentence.

 

“Now, I suggest getting a tutor, it’d really help you out, Jim, if you need help finding one, I’m always here, well you are free to go, have a nice day, Mr. Lake.” Ms. Janeth smiled and released him.

 

When Jim stepped outside, someone stopped him. “I can help you!”

 

He recognized the voice. Claire Nunez. 

 

“What do you mean?” He knew that she knows he’s failing, she probably stuck around the room when he was talking to Ms. Janeth. 

 

“I can help you with this class, in high school, I did really well in Shakespeare, I was even in the play.”

 

“Oh that’s right, I didn’t see much of the show, my friend had an emergency, you were great though, I bet,” He nervously scratched his neck.

 

“Thank you,” Claire smiled. “Anyway are you up for a study sesh?” 

 

“I mean if you’re up for it?” Jim said even more nervously then he has ever said anything. 

 

_ Jim, what are you doing, Claire asking you to study with her, it’s nothing, stop being nervous. _

 

“Great, I’ll meet you at my dorm,” She said writing her dorm number on a sticky note. “At seven,” She placed it Jim’s hand.  _ Room 3456, Market Building.  _ “See ya there, Lake.” She waved and walked off.

 

Jim waved as well. He grabbed his phone out of his bag and put his headphones and started playing  _ Pumped Up Kicks _ .

 

Walking back to the dorm building was peaceful, thinking about hanging out with Claire. The trees seemed brighter and the sky was much more blue, it felt warmer, even though it was October. He stopped by the Starbucks on his way back and picked up a Iced Caramel Macchiato for himself, and nothing else.

 

He walked into his room, not seeing Toby. He sat down on his bed and pulled out his computer and started working on his Anthro paper, he had to be there in three hours, and he only had one page done, and it was four pages, clearly the end of the world.

 

About a few after Anthro, Jim was preparing his bag to head to Claire’s dorm to study. Toby burst through the door holding coffee. “Who's ready for a long ass night of studying, Jimbo?” He said, smiling.

 

_ Shit, I forgot to tell him I’m going to Claire’s. _

 

_ Well no time like the present. _

 

“About that, Tobes, I can’t tonight, I’m, uh, going to study with Claire, I’m failing my Shakespeare class, and wanted to help,” Jim smiled up at his best friend. Jim instantly thought Toby would get mad, but his smile grew wider. 

 

“DUDE!”

 

“What?”

 

“You got a date with Claire Nunez, that is so amazing,” Toby pulled Jim into a hug.

 

Pulling out Jim said, “It’s not a date, Tobes, it’s a study sesh and nothing more, I just need help in one class, plus I sit by her everyday, so I guess we’re friends, and friends help friends, so they can pass,” 

 

“Fine, whatever you say,” Toby shrugged and smirked at Jim.

Jim looked over at his clock.  _ 5:45. _ Jim grabbed his backpack and rushed out the door without saying goodbye to Toby. 

 

He arrived in front of her dorm with 5 minutes to spare. Purple fairy lights hung outside her door, with red ones underneath. Purple butterflies decorated the corners the white door. Whoever decorated the door was very good at house design. 

 

Apparently, the Market dorm building is lit by colorful fairy lights. Doors decorated with certain things pertaining to the people who lived there, the colors and stickers.

 

Jim knocked on the door. The door flung open really fast. Claire was standing there, in different clothes then a few hours ago. She was now wearing purple plaid pajama pants, and a white Papa Skull t-shirt. Her room was lit only by red and purple fairy lights. One side of the room, he suspected Claire’s side, was covered in rock band posters like Panic! At the Disco, and Papa Skull. The other side was lit by the red fairy lights and covered in certain mainstream pop posters. A electric guitar was planted on the wall on the red side, along with a white ukulele, and a classic acoustic guitar. Jim’s conclusion: Claire lived with a music major. 

 

“Sorry, I don’t like wearing black jeans when I’m not in class,” She smiled. 

 

He walked in and sat on the floor of Claire’s side on the room. He got a good glimpse of her desk. Like his. Pictures of her family, and her brother. Cups full of purple pens and her chair had her leather jacket. 

 

Her laptop was covered in stickers. Witch aesthetic from pinterest stickers. A few Papa Skull stickers. She had little bluetooth speaker on top of the computer, it was purple as well. 

 

“Do you want the light on or off?” Claire asked, standing by the light. 

 

“Uh, on is fine,” He said.

 

“Cool, Aja likes it off, she ‘likes the feel’ of it, I don’t know,” Claire laughed.

 

Claire lived with Aja, that explained the red and the guitars. 

 

“Heh, she never told me you two lived together,”

 

“Oh you know Aja?”   
  


“Yeah, we have Anthropology together, she helped me on the first day and we became close friends.”

 

“Really, do you know that her brother is living Seamus, they were  _ rivals _ in high school.” Her laugh was so beautiful.

 

“I knew about the whole math battle they had to do, Toby was stoked about it, got a video,” Jim laughed. Claire was now sitting next to him. Her laptop now in her lap. Something then jumped out from under the bed. A cat. A tiny little black cat jumped out and crawled over to Claire.

 

She started talking sweetly to it, before looking over and seeing his very confused look. “Oh, sorry Jim, this is oe of my cats Le Fey, I guess NotEnrique didn’t want to come out and say hi, he is very shy,” Claire laughed. “Oh, Em, Shish-kabobs, are you allergic to cats, i'm so sorry, I can let her stay with Mary and Darcy.”

 

“No. No, it’s fine, Toby had a cat and I’ve always loved him, no need to panic,” He smiled and waved it off. 

 

“Oh, well then, should we get started?”

 

“Of course,” He smiled.


	5. chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Do you think I could join you and Claire on your next study sesh, I may or may not be failing Blinky's class?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soo.. i've been gone for a while, and i sincerely apologize about that. i had been testing and having the worst writer's block in the world, but here is the next chapter that should've been out like a month ago. i don't know where i am going from here.. so the chapters might take a while to get out. sorry. but please enjoy this new chapter of the dorks.

Jim was felt like he was actually learning more from Claire than he was from Ms. Janeth. She was explaining things is a way Jim could understand. She was laughing at his jokes. Knowing from Toby, Jim’s jokes were _ horrible _ . Honestly, he thought she was laughing out of pity, but she wasn’t, it was real. 

 

Claire stopped laughing when her door opened. It was Aja. 

 

“Oh, hey Aja, is that Krel with you?” Claire asked.

 

Aja looked over to them on the floor. Next to her stood her brother Krel, carrying what seemed to be a guitar case on his back. When he came in he was also complaining about how dumb one of the music teachers is.

 

“Oh, yes hey Claire, he is,” She looked over at Jim. “Jim? Why are you here?”

 

“Studying with Claire,” He picked up the Shakespeare book they were reading. “I’m currently failing my class.” He rolled his eyes.

 

“Krel, you can head back, see you tomorrow.” Aja waved to her brother. Krel did leave, grumbling to himself. 

 

“He seemed mad,” Claire said. “Is he okay?”

 

“Oh, he’s fine just mad at some teacher who has been failing him-- just like you Jim!” She pointed at Jim. Jim laughed and then glared at Aja, who laughed. She took a seat on her bed pulling out her laptop and started to play one of Jim’s favorite songs  _ Buzzcut Season _ by  _ Lorde _ . 

 

“Anyway, back to Hamlet,”

-

The next day, Jim walked to his seat by Claire. Claire looked over at him and smiled, “You’re on time,” 

 

“Yeah for once,” He rolled his eyes and laughed, she laughed back. He looked down at her notebook, her notes were so pretty and organized. She did doodle a lot, Jim noticed it when he got bored. He’d seen some of the doodles, most of them having to do with Romeo and Juliet along with her favorite Disney movie, Beauty and The Beast. She’d highlight her notes in different shades of purple. It had been apparent how much her doodles have done to her page. It made that crunch noise when you turn it. He always thought it just added more to her character. 

 

Jim’s notes were scattered and messy. It was hard to follow certain dates, certain things that he needed to know. And he knew because of Claire telling him last night.

 

_ “I think your notes are the reason you’re failing, Jim. You might want to keep them more organized, it might help.”  _

 

He tried today, to copy the organization of Claire’s notes. He somewhat succeeded in learning more about the subject of Hamlet. Jim better understood what Ms. Janeth was saying. 

 

After class, Jim caught Claire outside of class again.

 

“So how was class today, did you understand it better?”

 

“I mean I guess, the note thing made more sense,” He smiled and shoved his notebook into his bag. He started walking down the hall with her. “I wrote a lot more down today than any other day in this class.”

 

“Uhm, this might sound weird, but do you want to come over again tonight?” She was fidgeting with the moon necklace she was wearing. She was wearing black ripped jeans with Vans and a white shirt covered by a purple flannel.

 

“Wait,” He stopped in his tracks. The light from the giant windows was blocked by Claire. “You want me to come over again, why?”

 

“Well, we have a test this week and I was wanting to see if we could help each other study for it, it would definitely help us a lot.” She smiled. “So Jim, what do you say, my dorm, 7:00 PM?”

 

“Yeah, you’re on Nunez, see you then.” He clicked a finger gun towards her and put his headphones in turning on music and heading towards his dorm.

-

When he got to the dorm, Toby was there. He was sitting on his bed typing away blasting what seemed to be the worst thing Jim had ever heard. “Yo, Tobes, turn it down, I'm surprised you haven’t gotten any complaints,” Jim threw his jacket onto his chair and fell onto his bed.

 

“Well, I’m surprised you haven’t gotten any complaints blasting Glee versions of songs while working,” Toby turned off his music.

 

“I have,” He turned and glared at his best friend. “They’re from you, and by the way, the Glee version of  _ Toxic _ by _ Brittney Spears _ is so much better than the original, and you hate it,” Jim scoffed.

 

“Well, which one Season 2 or Season 5?”

 

“Season 2- wait, why do you care? I thought you hated Glee?”

 

“Okay I do, but anyway I heard you have another Study Date with Claire,” He wiggled his eyebrows. 

 

“How the hell did you find out about that?” Jim sat up to face him.

 

“Word on the street,” Toby smirked.

 

Jim raised an eyebrow knowing he was lying.

 

“Okay! Claire told Aja who told Steve who told Eli who told me.”

 

“And this all happened in the span of 30 minutes?”

 

“It’s like that scene in  _ Crazy Rich Asians _ when the news of Nick bringing Rachel to the wedding happens in like 10 minutes, I’m guessing.” Toby smiled.

 

They watched  _ Crazy Rich Asians _ a few nights ago and they both fell in love in with the movies. He’s been wanting to show it to Claire since. 

 

“Yeah, it is nothing like that.”

 

“Well, kinda,” Toby shrugged.

 

“Whatever.” Jim stuck his headphones in his ears starting back on his Anthro paper due when he gets to class today. He started playing  _ Throw Shade by CRUISR _ . 

 

About three hours later he was sitting in Blinky’s class listening to the lecture he was giving when Aja Tarron tapped him on the shoulder. He turned seeing her platinum hair tied up into a bun. She was wearing a Panic! At the Disco shirt with AirPods in. She took one out and asked him, “Are you even listening?”

 

“I think you’re the one who is not listening, with your AirPods in,” Jim smiled.

 

“Anyway, I have a question for you,” 

 

“Okay, shoot,”

 

“Can I come study with you and Claire tonight? I need it, I’m kinda failing Blinky’s class. And I need to pass this for my minor.” Aja smiled, innocently.

-

“Y-Yeah, sure, I guess, you’re welcome to come.” Jim smiled. Aja thanked him and put her AirPods back him. He pulled one out of her ear. “On the condition that you pay attention in class, thank you.”

She groaned and took them out.

 

When Jim got to Claire’s that night she was in black yoga pants and a purple hoodie and Aja was sitting on the bed still wearing the same thing. “Hey, Aja’s joining tonight, is that cool?”

 

“Yeah, it’s no problem, I let her, she’s failing Anthro and I offered to help her.” He sat down pulling out his notebook and Laptop. 

 

“Okay, makes sense, we’ll just go to Shakespeare later,” Claire smiled. 

 


End file.
